Method and system for categorizing items in both actual and virtual categories

• US 20020049763A1
• Filed: 12/08/2000
• Published: 04/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Seamon, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 7,523,114 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/211 Schema design and management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method of facilitating location of a data item describing, for example, a product or service that is the subject of on-line auction, commences with the presentation of a category navigation interface. The category navigation interface allows a user to navigate a “virtual” hierarchy of categories and to select a target virtual category of the virtual hierarchy. The target virtual category is then identified as being linked to an actual category, within an actual hierarchy of categories. Database items are classified only in terms of the real hierarchy of categories, and not the virtual hierarchy of categories. Having then identified an actual category to which the virtual category is mapped, data items of the real category are identified responsive to the user selection of the virtual category of the virtual hierarchy of categories.

Claims

1. A method of constructing a category structure within a database, the method including:

defining a first structure of categories to classify a data item, the first structure including at least a first category; and

defining a second structure of categories to provide an alternative classification of the data item, the second structure including at least a second category,

wherein the second category is associated with the first category.

2. The method of claim 1 including defining the first and second structures of categories as respective first and second hierarchies of categories.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first category is a leaf category of the first hierarchy of categories.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the second category is a leaf category of the second hierarchy of categories

5. The method of claim 1 including defining the second category to point to the first category.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the defining of the second structure includes defining the second hierarchy such that navigation of the second hierarchy to locate data items classified as being attributed to the second category locates data items classified as being attributed to the first category of the first hierarchy.

7. The claim of 1 wherein the data item is user classifiable under the first structure of categories and is not user-classifiable under the second structure of categories.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the data item is directly categorized as being within the first category of the first structure of categories and is indirectly categorized as being within the second category of the second structure of categories.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the definition of the first and second structures of categories includes defining a category table including a category record for each category of the first and second structures of categories, each category record within the category table including a category identifier, wherein a category record that describes the second category includes a category identifier of a category record for the first category.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the data item is a database record describing any one of a group of products and services of a transaction facilitated by a network-based transaction facility.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the network-based transaction facility is a network-based auction facility.

12. The method of claim 1 including defining a third structure of categories to provide a further alternative classification of the data item, the third structure including at least a third category, wherein the third category is associated with the first category of the first structure of categories.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first category comprises a first category path defined in terms of the first structure of categories and the second category comprises a second category path defined in terms of the second structure of categories.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the first and second categories are associated within a description of categories within the database.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the first category is attributed to the data item by a user during a user classification operation and the second category is dynamically attributed to the data item during a user navigation operation of the second hierarchy of categories, wherein the dynamic attributing of the second category is performed by identification of an association between the first and second categories.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the first category is directly recorded within the database as being attributed to the data item and the second category is recorded as being linked to the first category within the database.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the first and second categories are each leaf categories of the respective first and second hierarchies of categories.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the first and second categories are defined by respective category paths of the first and second hierarchies of categories.

14. A method of classifying a data item within a database, the method including:

identifying a first category, of a first hierarchy of categories, attributed to a data item; and

automatically attributing a second category, of a second hierarchy of categories, to the data item.

20. A method of facilitating location of a data item within a database, the method including:

facilitating user-navigation of a first category structure to select a first category;

identifying a second category of a second category structure as being linked to the first category of the first category structure; and

identifying data items of the second category responsive to the selection of the first category of the first category structure.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the first category structure is a first hierarchy of categories and the facilitating of the user navigation comprises presenting at least one user interface to display navigation information according to the first hierarchy of categories.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the presenting of the at least one user interface comprises generating at least one markup language document.

23. The method of claim 22 including providing, within the context of the markup language document, any one of a group of navigation aids including a drop-down menu, a selection of check boxes, a selection of radio buttons, an embedded Java application and an embedded ActiveX control.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the identification of the second category comprises accessing a category table including a first record describing the first category, wherein the first record includes a pointer to a second record within the category table describing the second category.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein the identifying of the data items comprises accessing an items table to identify at least a first record identifying the second category.

26. The method of claim 20 wherein the first and second category structures comprise respective first and second hierarchies of categories, and the first and second categories comprise respective leaf categories of the first and second hierarchies of categories.

27. The method of claim 20 including communicating the identified data items within a markup language document transmitted over a network

28. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the steps of:

identifying a first category, of a first hierarchy of categories, attributed to a data item; and

automatically attributing a second category, of a second hierarchy of categories, to the data item.

29. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the steps of:

facilitating user-navigation of a first category structure to select a first category;

identifying a second category of a second category structure as being linked to the first category of the first category structure; and

identifying data items of the second category responsive to the selection of the first category of the first category structure.